This long-awaited review was posted less than 24 hours after I finally pulled the trigger on this player. I was waiting for your review for months, and finally after I give up, here it is. What a wonderful read it was(read it twice), and I can't wait until Tuesday comes and this player is in my hands! This will be my second Cowon PMP, my last being the D2, which is still beating after 3 and a half years, in the hands of my closest friend back home.

Though read as soon as released but didn't know that Martin is dfkt
Good review.
It is indeed very revealing that Sansa clip+ sound match with EXPENSIVE Cowon J3 at volume matched settings (at Flat equalizers).
More reason to save money

Most quality players sound the same when compared at the exact same volume, without any EQ or other sound enhancements. It's just that the Clip+ also measures pretty perfectly - but the differences between players are usually way too tiny to even notice with human ears.

With super-sensitive multi-armature IEMs it's a different story though, since there are indeed lots of players out there that crap out when trying to drive those, such as the SE530, SM3, UE11, and so on.

(I thought my "Vienna, Austria" location disclosure was good enough to connect it to my surname with all the umlauts. )

Thanks for all that work! It helped even though I have had the J3 for about 4 months. I wonder if you know how to show lyrics. I have lyrics option on, added lyrics using iAudio LDB which told me it had been marked and indeed the lyrics show up when played by the LDB player. But on the J3 nothing happens. Am I missing something basic?

Very nice review, the player deserves it.
I share the view on the audio quality which is really good.
I have a different view on the build quality. I have, and I read from other users, that the player has some corner lifting on the lower right corner of the screen. This is seriouly dissapointing. My D2 feels much stronger (while 4 yrs older).

I opened the player, and realized the build is actually nothing fantastic. Normal catchers, the metal frame around the screen is actually plastic and will turn white sooner or later.
Inside, there is a battery of 3.7V & 1120mAH. A Telechips Application processor, a Micron Flash, Hynix RAM, and wolfson 8960.